A developer is troubleshooting slow response times in a serverless application. The application consists of an Amazon API Gateway REST API that invokes an AWS Lambda function, which then writes data to an Amazon DynamoDB table with on-demand capacity. The function also calls an external API for enrichment. The developer observes that the API Gateway integration latency is high, but the Lambda function duration is low. What is the most likely cause?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
The Lambda function is experiencing cold starts due to low invocation frequency.
Cold starts increase Lambda duration, not integration latency. Integration latency is the network time, not the function execution time.
Distractor review
The DynamoDB on-demand capacity is throttling requests.
Throttling would cause Lambda to retry, increasing its duration and possibly leading to timeouts, but it would not directly affect integration latency.
Distractor review
The external API call is adding network latency due to its geographic location.
Latency from the external API call is included in the Lambda function duration, not in integration latency. Integration latency specifically measures API Gateway to Lambda round-trip time.
Best answer
The API Gateway request/response payload size is large, increasing transfer time.
Large payloads take longer to transfer between API Gateway and Lambda, increasing integration latency even if the Lambda function executes quickly.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Related practice questions
Related DVA-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A developer is building a REST API using Amazon API Gateway that will serve static content from an Amazon S3 bucket. The API should cache responses for frequently accessed objects to reduce latency. Which API Gateway feature should the developer enable?
Question 2
A developer is running a web application on multiple Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application needs to store user session state that must be available across all instances. The session data is small and temporary but must survive individual instance failures. Which AWS service should the developer use to store this session state?
Question 3
A developer has an AWS Lambda function that processes messages from an Amazon SQS standard queue. The function is idempotent and currently has a batch size of 10. The developer wants to increase throughput and increases the batch size to 100. After the change, CloudWatch metrics show a significant increase in throttles and the queue backlog is growing. The function's reserved concurrency is set to 10. What is the most effective action to resolve the throttling and improve throughput?
Question 4
A developer is managing an application running on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. Users report that the application becomes unresponsive after several hours, and restarting the instance temporarily fixes the issue. The developer suspects a memory leak but cannot add custom instrumentation. Which AWS service can collect memory utilization metrics and help identify the memory leak with minimal configuration?
Question 5
A developer is building a serverless web application using AWS Lambda and Amazon DynamoDB. The application needs to perform complex aggregations on data stored in DynamoDB. Which AWS service should the developer use to perform these aggregations efficiently without reading all the data into Lambda?
Question 6
A developer has an Amazon S3 bucket containing private user documents. The application must generate a time-limited URL for users to download their own documents without requiring the users to have AWS credentials. Which solution should the developer use?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DVA-C02 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The API Gateway request/response payload size is large, increasing transfer time. — Integration latency is the time from when API Gateway sends the request to Lambda until it receives the response. If Lambda duration is low, the delay is not in the function execution. Large payloads can significantly increase network transfer time between API Gateway and Lambda, especially if the payload size is near the 10MB limit. Option A would increase Lambda duration due to cold start, not just integration latency. Option B would cause Lambda to retry, increasing duration. Option C is included in Lambda duration, not integration latency.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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